Red-light alert for 31 historic sites in the Americas

The World Monument Fund (WMF) set off the alarm for as many as 31 historic sites in the Americas that are currently reaching a level of deterioration as a result of threats and damages caused by natural disasters, pollution, reckless disregard and indiscriminate tourism.

These 31 locations are part of a list of the Top-100 Most Endangered Sites in the World published on a yearly basis by the WMF, a non-profitable organization devoted to the preservation of mankind’s historic, cultural and architectural heritage.

“When we send an international wakeup call on these sites, we’re also helping to collect the necessary funds to rescue these locations. This process usually urges both governments and communities to take on the challenge of protecting the sites,” WMF president Bonnie Burnham said.

For many historic sites and monuments, their inclusion on the list –published for the first time back in 1995- stands for the best and probably the only hope to cling to for their survival, Mr. Burnham said in a press conference.

For the first time in almost a decade, this year’s list of the Top-100 Most Endangered Sites in the World compiles spots from all five continents.

In the Americas, the Jesuit Missions in the Guarany territories, and the Triple Frontier of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay rank among the most damaged pieces of historic heritage.

The cultural landscape of the Usamacinta River in the Mayan cities of Piedras Negras (Guatemala) and Yaxchilan (Mexico) are increasingly in jeopardy now that a construction company plans to build a dam there, let alone the severe damage caused by vandalism, erosion and weather impairment.

Any project now under consideration for building a dam on the premises will wreak far more havoc with these ancient cities and could roll over a dozen communities settled in the surroundings. The WMF has commissioned a research study to weigh the potential impacts on the local environment.

Another archeological site now in danger is Mexico’s Quetzalcoatl Temple in Teotihuacan, whose structural elements –especially the west facade- are deeply dilapidated.

The Panama Canal Zone, built between 1882 and 1914, is –according to the WMF- “a particular kind of challenge.”

“The protection of so huge and sophisticated a place like this requires the unification of economic forces that are right now pushing in different directions,” Mr. Burnham explained.

The list also includes other four sites in Mexico, four in Peru, two in Venezuela and two others in Ecuador, plus one apiece in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, Paraguay and Puerto Rico. In the case of Spain, the San Miguel das Peñas Passage in Galicia was also blacklisted.

Lower Manhattan in New York City, one of the premiere cultural sites of the United States embracing more than 65 historic buildings and now comprising the so-called ground zero, made the list last year on the heels of the terrorist attacks against the Twin Towers in Sept. 2001.